We’ve been getting a ton of beets from our CSA.  It’s hard to keep up.  Until I decided to grill beets, my favorite thing about them was the color. A few weeks ago I charred grilled a few beets when my friend Deb stopped over for a visit while on her road trip.  I mixed them with my favorite Mediterranean toppings.  Last weekend, feeling all bad azz, I lit the grill again.  I have no idea why grilling makes me feel bad azz.

Grilled Beets and Goat Cheese*
Romain Lettuce
Arugula Green Onion (thinly slice)
Apple (coarsely chopped)
Grilled Beets
Goat Cheese (crumbled)
(Last weeks) Honey Basil Balsamic Dressing

To Grill the Beets
Light the Grill
(Or yell for your husband when it’s not working.  Look the other way and roll your eyes when he lights in it .5 seconds after you spend 5 minutes trying.)
Brush the Beets with Olive Oil
(If you are lazy like me you spray them with the aerosol olive oil.)
Sprinkle on Sea Salt

Grill over medium/high heat for about 3-5 minutes each side.
Throw on Arrange Beets on top of the greens and sprinkle with goat cheese.

*Not pictured the handful of chicken I threw on top for extra protein.

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

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Let’s just pretend summer started this week and I’m actually on top of things.  As promised, introducing the summer salad series.  Over the next few months I’m going to do my best to try out a new salad every week.   This week Pears and Peppers.  I was going to say “peppered pears” but that just sounded wrong.  Unless you’re weird.  ;-)

Salad Ingredients
Lots o’Lettuce
1 Pear (diced)
6 Artichoke Hearts (expect to be seeing a lot artichokes in this series)
10 Kalamata Olives (finely chopped)
Roasted Red Pepper (chopped)
Grilled Chicken (optional..obviously)

Honey Basil Balsamic Dressing
1 cup of Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 cup of Olive Oil
1.5 tbs Honey
1 tbs Basil (finely chopped)

For all you stat people, this salad with dressing (a few tbs) was 411 calories 41 g carbs, 32 g protein, and 13 g fat.

Also wanted to let you know I did a guest post for Sabrina over at Rhodeygirl Tests earlier this week about finding the “perfect” plan.  I’d love it if you would check it out!

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

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I have no problem as a health blogger admitting I like fast food.  I do.  I think a lot of it taste good.  Sorry, if that offends you.

As a person who chooses to live a healthy lifestyle and make choices that I feel contribute to some changes I want to see in the world, I do have a problem with eating it regularly.  So I don’t.

Instead, I try to make things myself that remind me of some of my favorites and one of my favorite are Chick-Fil-A’s chicken nuggets.  I. LOVE. THEM.  (Almost as much as I love Long John Silver’s. Even to the point I imagined a movie star hip pizzeria’s appetizers tasting like Long John’s.)  Boo.  Hiss.  I’m ducking your tomatoes now.

My grandma is southern and makes the BEST fried chicken ever.  I asked her how she makes it and she said flour, salt, pepper, and oil.  In days gone by, she used lard but now she uses olive oil. I’ve changed it up a bit by using coconut oil and cutting the chicken into little pieces. Inventive.  It still doesn’t taste as good as my grandma’s but it gives Chick-Fil-A a run for their money.

Crispy Chicken Nuggets

8 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 Tsp Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper LOTS to taste
1/2 Cup Coconut Oil

Serves 8

1. Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces.

2. In a bowl combine the flour, sea salt and pepper.  I say in a bowl because I don’t measure the pepper.  I just grind until it looks like this.
I like a lot of pepper.

3. Put the flour mixture in a ziplock bag.  Shake.  Add the chicken and shake.  Remember “Shake-N-Bake”.  Except this time we aren’t going to bake we are going to (gasp!) FRY!

4. In a skillet warm the coconut oil over med/high heat.  Add the chicken and, using tongs, turn the nuggets until they are brown on all sides.  Continue cooking until chicken is no longer pink on the inside and the outside is crispy.

5. I will often turn down the temperature to LOW and cover to cook for an additional 20 minutes or longer.  I have no idea why  (steam?) but this seems to make the chicken really tender more like Chick-Fil-A.

6.  Last, I put them in a bowl lined with paper towels to absorb some of the oil.

Nutrition Info: 200 calories, 5 g carbs, 28 g protein, 7 g fat per 4 0z. serving (about 6 or 7 nuggets)

I serve these with homemade honey mustard.  SO. GOOD.

Homemade Honey Mustard

(For now use your imagination.  I’ll snap a picture next time I make it.)

2 Tbs Raw Honey
2 Tbs Yellow Mustard
2 TBS Dijon Mustard

So simple  but so delicious and the raw honey is chock full of beneficial live enzymes and vitamins.
(Kinda helps you not feel so bad about eating fried chicken.)

Just to show you how much I love chicken nuggets.

I served them at my wedding.
Classy.

Go check out my good friend Deb’s post for more Good, Bad, and Funny pictures of awesome bloggers!

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

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I could eat pizza everyday.  Except that I try to limit white flour products and most “whole wheat” pizza crusts at the store aren’t really whole wheat.  Not to mention in an “ideal world” I would only eat sprouted wheat but unfortunately that is not my real world.  Enter the Ezekiel tortilla.  Ezekiel bread has been my bread of choice for the past 6 years but my love affair with Ezekiel tortillas is still in its honeymoon phase.  I’m excited about our future together.

Southwest Chicken Pizza

1 Ezekiel Tortilla
1/2 Cup Black Beans
2 Tbs Salsa
1/4 Cup Shredded Cheese Mexican Blend
2 oz Grilled Chicken (small handful)
Fresh Tomato (chopped)
Cilantro (chopped)
Fire Roasted Bell Pepper (Chopped)
Black Olives

1.  Grill your chicken.
Brent sprinkled lemon juice and garlic salt on the chicken while it was cooking.
When it was almost done he basted it with a bit of BBQ sauce.

2. Layer your tortilla with the rest of the ingredients.

3. Put your pizza back on the grill until the bottom is crispy and the cheese is melty.

I also make these in the toaster oven or oven.
My trick is to lightly toast the tortilla before piling on toppings.
Then stick it in the oven again for a second go around.

But this day we used the grill.  Yum.

Nutritional info according to the above recipe.
1 pizza: 549 calories*, 53 g carbs, 39 g protein, 20 g fat
(Calories could easily be cut by using low-fat cheese and or reducing the amount.)
I should note that this pizza has a nice 12 g of fiber.

Mine with the cheese hidden under the veggies.
What you can’t see can’t hurt.

Not only to do love pizza but I love other bloggers.
I’m honored to be featured over on Lisa’s awesome blog Workout Mommy.
I’d be thrilled if you go check out my  One Fit Mommy interview!

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

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Or rather how we make homemade sushi rolls because we have no clue as to the proper way to make sushi rolls.

Making sushi rolls at home is a perfect date night.
It’s also fun way to spend time with friends, sort of like pizza making parties, for grown ups.

Ingredients
White Rice
Seasoned Rice Vinegar
Nori (seaweed sheets)
Bamboo Rolling Mats
Soy Sauce
Wasabi
Ginger
Assortment of  sushi grade fish, veggies, fruits, cream cheese, i.e., fillings.
We used halibut & ahi b/c that is what was available at the fish market.

(Our sushi roll recipes are at the bottom of the post.)

Sushi Rice
We use a 1/1 ratio of rice to water.
Use 1/3 a cup of seasoned rice vinegar for every 3 cups of rice
Pour vinegar over warm rice and fluff.

To make the Sushi Rolls

Brent getting the “sushi station” ready .

“Sushi Station”

Lay your seaweed paper in the center of the bamboo roller.
Spread rice out on the seaweed paper.

Lay your fillings out on the rice.

Use the bamboo mat to “roll” your roll.
(Sort of feels like making a burrito except you don’t fold the ends.)

Voila!

Then slice with a annoyingly dull sharp knife.

” The AAA Roll”
(recipe below)

According to the Bodybugg sushi making does not burn a lot of calories.
Unfortunately if you use cream cheese the way I use cream cheese you will eat more than you burn.
A lot more.

The “ALT” (Ahi Lettuce and Tomato) before …

…we ruined covered it with burnt eel sauce.

We took a perfectly healthy plate of veggies….

…and turned them into this…
…mmmmm….tempura…
(I’m sure the farmers at my CSA would be proud.)

The Feast.

I’m big on presentation.
(insert sarcasm)

La Piece de Resistance
(Tempura banana rolled in shredded coconut…killer!)

Sushi Roll Recipes

We had a lot of fun experimenting.

The AAA Roll
Ahi
Avocado
Apple
(The apple was surprisingly good.)
Red Onion
(I pretended the red onion wasn’t there b/c it ruined the alliteration)

The Baja Roll
Cabbage
Jalepeno
Red Onion
Halibut
Tomato
Cilantro

(Brent’s favorite.  Next time we will tempura the roll when we are done.)

Coconut Curry Roll
Tempura Banana
Mayo Mixed with a bit Curry Powder
Red Onion
Shredded Coconut
Cilantro
Ahi

(This was probably my favorite of the bunch.  The curry and wasabi were YUM together.)

Tropical Roll
Mango
Red Onion
Avocado
Halibut

The ALT
Ahi
Lettuce
Tomato
Eel Sauce

(This one had potential had we not burnt the sauce.)

The Red White and Green
Red Onion
Cream Cheese
Asparagus
Ahi

(LOADS of cream cheese.  What more can I say.)

It was a night well spent and I don’t regret a. single. bite.

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

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Salmon regularly makes the different so called “superfoods” lists.
(Here, here, and here.)

Unlike broccoli I actually enjoy eating salmon.
Especially when someone else cooks it.
A few months ago Brent put together this recipe.
It’s been a favorite of mine since.

Salmon Patties

6 oz Can of Wild Salmon
2 pieces of Ezekiel Bread
2 Eggs
2 tbs Onion (minced)
2 tbs Red Bell Pepper (minced)
1 tsp Worchestershire Sauce
1 tsp Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp Hot Sauce (We use Chinese chili sauce)
sea salt to taste
fresh ground pepper to taste
1/2 – 1 tbs Coconut Oil

1. Toast the bread and put it in mini-chopper to make bread crumbs.

2. Mix the crumbs with everything else and form patties.

3. Cook patties in coconut oil until brown.

We get typically get 4 servings out of this recipe.
(Unless I’m really hungry.)
140 calories, 8 g carbs, 15 g protein, 5 g fat

Oh and you know how I mentioned I hoped I would be sore from yesterday’s workout?
Mission accomplished.

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

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There are a lot of things I love about my husband.  His tender heart.  His humor.  His devotion to me and our kids.  His creativity.  His work ethic.  His sexy blue eyes.  His smile.  I could go on and on but before you gag I’ll say, “Swedish Pancakes”.  Yes, there is one more thing I love about my husband.  His Swedish Pancakes.  (And his willingness to put up with my demanding personality requests.)

We had these Saturday and Sunday for breakfast.  While,they were delicious both days, Saturday’s were a little more calorie dense and carb heavy than I like so Sunday he made some adjustments.  Here is his slightly lighter version and for the record he is a 1/4 Swede.  :-)

Brent’s Creme Filled High Protein Swedish Pancakes

Pancakes
2 cups of milk (we use whole)
4 egg whites
2 whole eggs
1/2 cup of flour (we use wheat)
2 tbs melted butter
1 tsp vanilla

Filling
4 0z of cream cheese
1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
2 tbs raw honey

Topping
2 cups of fresh strawberries

1. Mix all the pancake stuff together until smooth.

2.  Melt a little butter in skillet over medium heat.
Pour about a 1/4 cup of batter into the skillet.
We are using less flour than normal so the pancakes will be a little fragile.
Cook thoroughly before flipping to prevent them from tearing.

3. In a blender or food processor combine the filling ingredients and blend until smooth.

4.  Spread the filling inside the cooked pancakes and roll it up.

5. Top with your favorite toppings.  We used fresh strawberries.

Makes approximately 4 servings
435 calories, 40 g carbs, 20 g protein, 22 g fat* per serving

*You could lighten these up  more by using low-fat milk, low-fat cream cheese, and a butter substitute.

Enjoy!

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

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Let me tell you a secret.  I don’t loooveeee veggies. At least not in the same way I looooveee pizza.

(I know it’s almost heretical.)

But when my friend sent me this recipe from the Food Network
I actually thought “here is a veggie recipe I can get excited about” or something sort of cheesy like that.

Sunny Anderson’s Crunchy Sweet Brussel Sprout Salad

1 pound brussel sprouts
2 tbs coconut oil*
1/2 tsp nutmeg
handful of dried cranberries
handful of chopped walnuts
sea salt
pepper

(* Original recipe calls for olive oil instead of coconut.  I prefer to use coconut oil for most of my cooking.)

The original recipe said to core and shred the brussel sprouts.
However, I had no idea how to do that and it sounded like it would take forever and a day so I simply cut off the bottoms and sliced them into thin slices.
Then I sautéed them in the coconut oil for a few minutes until they were “bright and slightly” wilted.
Next, I added the nutmeg, sea salt and pepper.
Lastly, I added the walnuts and cranberries.

Aren’t they pretty?

They were also delicious.  Something I rarely say about veggies.

I served them with Trader Joe’s wild salmon and some other sort of dark leafy green from my CSA box.

Thanks Lisa for sending me the link to Sunny Anderson’s recipe.

Tell me the truth do you “looooveee” veggies?

and

How do you “core” brussel sprouts?

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

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This year for Lent my husband and I decided not to eat meat.  Through that experience I learned some things about myself and I came up with a few new recipes including my Mediterranean Stuffed Peppers.  That sort of sounds like I stuffed them with the Mediterranean.  That would be one big pepper. (Okay that joke was DUMB.  Don’t feel obligated to laugh.)

Come to think of it, I overuse the word “Mediterranean”.  We got Brent’s Mediterranean Chicken Salad, Simple Mediterranean Chicken, and my Mediterranean Quinoa Salad.)  That’s a lot of Mediterranean.  Not only that but I can’t spell Mediterranean to save my life.  (I’m not a very good speller in general.) EVERY TIME I type it the little red line comes up underneath.  You’d think since I use “Mediterranean” the way Paris Hilton uses “hot” (that’s like sooo three years ago.), I’d be able to spell it correctly.  Nope.  I’m not even close b/c the spell check always says “No Guesses Found”.

Hmmm….I think I’ll call them Pesto Rice Stuffed Peppers instead.

Anyway…

Pesto Rice Stuffed Peppers~ Inspired by the Mediterean

2 bell peppers (I like red)
1/2 cup of pesto (I use my pesto b/c it rocks.)
1 cup cooked brown rice
2 tbs of sundried tomatoes (I use one packed in oil~gasp!)
1/4 onion – minced
6 olives
4 tbs feta cheese (2 in the mixture, one on top of each pepper)
Bit of olive oil

Preheat oven to 350°.

Cut out the stem and remove seeds from the pepper.
Boil (the pepper, not the stem) for 5 minutes.
Sauté the onion in a bit of olive oil
In a bowl combine the rest of the ingredients (including onion) saving 2 tbs of feta.
Pat the boiled pepper dry with paper towels and stuff it with the brown rice mixture.
Put 1 more tbs of feta on each pepper.
Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.

(I can’t decide if this photo looks appetizing or not…just trust me it’s good!)

I served this with a green salad tossed with My Favorite Dressing.

Enjoy!

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

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I love Mexican food.  LOVE Mexican food.  Out of all the cheesy spicy goodness to choose from, one of my favorite dishes is Chile Relleno.  A friend gave me a recipe for a chile relleno casserole that uses 2 pounds, TWO POUNDS, of cheese as well as numerous whole eggs, and condensed milk. On occasion, it is worth every bite. However for regular consumption I needed something a little less calorie dense.  Enter my RC (reduced calorie) Chile Relleno Casserole.

(Like the kettlebell in the background?)

RC (Reduced Calorie) Chile Relleno Casserole

8 egg whites
2 whole eggs
1.5 cups cottage cheese
7 oz can diced green chilis
1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese
Another 1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese (optional)
1 tbs butter (melted)
pinch of cumin
sea salt (I use about a tsp)
favorite salsa

Preheat oven to 350. Beat the eggs together.
Stir in the rest of the ingredients and pour into a greased square baking dish.
Bake for about 40 minutes.
Optional: Top with an extra 1/2 cup of cheese 5 minutes b4 casserole is done.
(I usually don’t add the extra cheese and I still love it.)
Top with you favorite salsa

I came across some cool giveaways you should know about too!

The darling, Girl Hero Janetha, is celebrating her blog Meals and Moves one year anniversary.
Check out the loot she is giving away to celebrate.

The adorable Sami at Freckled Foodie is having a giveaway too!!!
Check out the reusable snack/lunch bags by snackTAXIs!!

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

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